Best humbuckers for open D

regan

regan

New member
I have a les paul that I'm going to leave permanently in open D, at the moment it has SD59's in there.
I don't know whether the guitar just seems to resonate wildly in D but it's really boomy & muddy with no clarity.
I'm toying with trying some new pups in there to see if they tame the bass, I only want a mild overdrive so I think low output is the way to go, any suggestions?
 
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Re: Best humbuckers for open D

Im using the Alnico 3 set in my Ibanez semi hollow open D guitar. They work beautifully but its a semi hollow. Not sure how well they would transition over to a les paul but its something to consider

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Re: Best humbuckers for open D

Just a thought......try a pair of Seymour Duncan Phat Cats.......bold P90 sound that I believe would be outstanding in your Les Paul. Need them a little milder, just back off the volume.
 
Re: Best humbuckers for open D

The '59 set CAN be "boomy" in some guitars.

Have you tried adjusting their heights and tweaking their pole pieces? Lowering the bass side relative to the treble side of each pickup can really help. Furthermore, raising the pole pieces up a couple of turns can add some clarity.

Inexpensive and easy mods: Trim the pole pieces under the wound strings to make them shorter, change the fillister poles to hex poles, change magnets to A4 (neck) and A2 (bridge), make a simple wiring modification (check out ArtieToo's Demud Mod for one example)

JeffBlue recommended the Phat Cats. I love those pickups, but I don't think they would cure the boominess and you have to want a P90 sound, which is very different in feel and response than most humbuckers and can be noisier than a humbucker.

For mild overdrive, you could probably go with a low or medium output design.

If none of the mods/tweaks above work, then take a look at the Seth Lover set or the Pearly Gates combo. The Pearly Gates are a little less boomy down low and have a fuller midrange with a natural attitude you really might like, but still stay well within PAF territory, so they are easy to work with and very expressive.
 
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